The present invention relates to a clamp for assembly and mounting of a set of tubes used on equipment. More specifically, the invention relates to clamps used for bundling lengths of rigid hydraulic tubing before mounting to the equipment to hold the tubes together while they are clamped to a mounting surface, without having to individually hold the tubes while clamping.
Skid steer loaders use bundles of hydraulic tubing for routing fluid to and from hydraulic cylinders on the equipment. Combinations of two or three adjacent tubes are required to route the fluid from the hydraulic pump to cylinders on the outer ends of the boom. Mounting the tubes to the skid steer loader such that the preset bends and couplings are positioned correctly can be very cumbersome and difficult, especially with long lengths of tubing. Assembling the tubes together with a clamp prior to mounting allows the assembler to organize and pre-position the tubes relative to each other. Without preassembly of the tubes, the tubes must be mounted with individual clamps or a combination of clamping devices or fasteners necessary to hold the tubes together inside the tubing clamp. Space and cost restrictions often do not allow for individual tubing clamps. Additional fasteners and clamping devices further complicate and add cost to the tube mounting procedure. Thus, preassembly of the tubes using a single, snap-fitting clamp is advantageous for efficiency and manageability when mounting bundles of hydraulic tubing.